Book club

So I had the most fantastic conversation with a friend today about a book series that we had both read. We were discussing the underlying power dynamics and it was a very interesting look for me at how even fiction read NOT intentionally to speak to BDSM dynamics can lead to shaping those thoughts.

I'm curious what fiction and non fiction books have you read that significantly impacted how you view yourself or your interactions within the lens of BDSM?

Please tell us about the book and whether you think it's a worthwhile read for others ( or not).

I'll give a post on two of my all time favorites tomorrow; unless Puck beats me to it!

Following

Just adding a couple links as a resource

http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=420513

This one isn't all BDSM themed but thought it was worth adding:

http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=410377

I think a new thread is a great idea to get a discussion going! Just thought the links would be helpful as a reference.

***subscribes***

***keeps mouth shut... or fingers braided***

***wanders off grinning and whistling***

My first thought was of "Venus in Furs" but then that seemed too overt.

"Jane Eyre" comes to mind. A man in a position of authority both in terms of age, class, and as an employer over a naive young governess. She rebels in half-hearted passive ways whilst feeling infatuated with him. All the while, his "insane" wife is confined upstairs under shady circumstances. He struggles to control the women in his life, He demands compliance to his whims, but he fails both when Jane flees and when his wife burns the place down. It isn't until he completely loses control over his life and physical well-being that Jane returns (after rejecting the suit of a would-be white knight) to nurture him back to health. It's a wide spectrum of airheaded female fantasies regarding relationships from brooding alpha male to the fixer-upper model. It makes me reflect on my own interactions with male Dominants as I have a preference older men that I can't figure out.

I am an avid reader; however, I shy away from romance or erotic fiction, including D/s themed.

A good friend of mine loves and recommended Laura Antoniou’s Marketplace series. I started it but lost interest (not through the fault of the writing but any sort of writing like that makes me feel like a giggling child).

For non-fiction, my current partner and I read Jack Rinella’s Becoming A Slave. We aren’t M/s but it was recommended to us as it focuses on narrowing down what you are really looking for. He found the author’s writing to be pretentious and “preachy,” whereas I found it more instructive. I think given our “roles” (for lack of a better word) we had different perspectives.

Following

*sigh* Really, Ange?

Fine. I'll do it.

So, yeah. What specifically sparked this thread was a conversation elsewhere that I commented that Kahlen Amnell is a submissive of the lg variety to Richard Cypher/Rahl throughout Terry Goodkind's series. It's not overt and is overshadowed by the Mord Sith, but if you read all eleven books carefully and keeping an eye out for it, you can see the dynamic shift.

Originally, in that same thread, I'd been making an argument that Stephanie Honor Harrington as written by David Weber was also "a little" to Paul Tankersly in his series. Their entire relationship doesn't last near as long, taking place almost completely in "The Short Victorious War" with some bleed over into "Field of Dishonor" and some aftermath in the next.


John Ringo is, perhaps not surprisingly considering he got his start collaborating with David Weber, another author that investigates the dynamic pretty thoroughly in his works. Most people go for the obvious efforts in the "Paladin of Shadows" series. But, there's quite a bit in "The Council War" series. And I would argue that it makes more than just an appearance even in "The Empire of Man" and possibly even his two "Special Circumstances" novels. At least so far as the psychological underpinnings.


Do I seriously have to even mention Laurell K. Hamilton's two series about Anita Blake and Merideth Gentry?


Any road, I'll shut the Puck up for the nonce and give someone else a shot at the floor. Even if it's to argue that I've been sniffing too much fairy dust for seeing what isn't there in what I listed.

Slightly off topic, I have recently been reading the book, Inside Linda Lovelace by Dawn Porter. The book is based on a series of university interviews. Having watched Deep Throat and a few of her other movies, what floored me was the free wheeling sex and hook-ups the movie legends had back then.

I did not know the likes of Joan Crawford, Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen had a start in movies through porn.

Linda certainly had a great time in LA once she became famous for her specialty.